Court order to evict travellers from Redcar’s Locke Park

Several caravans were driven onto an area of the park, on Corporation Road, last weekend.

The group were subsequently given a ‘direction to leave’ notice by council officers, which was ignored.

A court summons was later served with an order granted by magistrates allowing the council to take possession of the site and remove the unauthorised occupants.

They were given until 4pm on Thursday to move on, although caravans were still present at the park into the evening.

Council leader Alec Brown said the situation continued to be monitored by the local authority.

Writing on Facebook, Cllr Brown also said “suitable prevention measures” were being examined in a bid to prevent a recurrence of the unauthorised camp.

He said this could include drop bollards at the entrances to the park, but such structures would have to be “robust enough to do a sufficient job”.

The council initially responded to the incursion by locking all park gates, except for the main entrance, which it said was for “security reasons”.

Some Facebook users suggested caravans had previously been parked up at another council owned site, Borough Park, off Redcar Lane, before moving on.

There is a designated gypsy and travellers site in Redcar and Cleveland – The Haven site in South Bank which provides permanent residential accommodation.

It was developed by the council at a cost of nearly £1m, opening in 2013.